ATLANTIC CITY – Robert Auth is one of the more ideological conservatives in the state Assembly.

But on Tuesday evening, Auth, who represents northern Bergen County, was in the middle of a crowded restaurant at the Borgata Casino showing support for gubernatorial candidate Jon Bramnick, who is anything but a right winger.

“I’m playing the long game,” Auth explained.

He meant the general election next November as opposed to the primary in June.

Conventional political wisdom suggests that Bramnick would have a better chance winning the general election than he would the primary.

Auth knows that and says he plans to help Bramnick do well in the primary any way he can.

For one thing, he said Bramnick had always helped him when both served in the Assembly. Bramnick, who had been Assembly Minority Leader, is now in the Senate.

Auth has fond memories of Bramnick’s leadership. He said:

“When he was there, we gained six seats. When he left, we lost six seats.”

Some observers have suggested that Donald Trump’s strong showing in New Jersey is bad news for Bramnick, who often has criticized Trump.

Bramnick does not see it that way.

Every election, he notes, is its own entity.

That’s certainly logical. In every election, there are different offices up, different people running and a different number of people voting.

Moreover, Bramnick suggested that the GOP’s “good”  Election Day showing was maybe not that good.

Trump came close, but still lost the state. So did Curtis Bashaw and the nine Republicans who challenged incumbent Democratic House members.

Republicans have narrowed the gap a bit, but the Dems’ registration advantage is still more than 900,000.

So, any GOP candidate running for governor needs Democratic support – and that is something Bramnick thinks he can get.

Reflecting on his career and also looking ahead, Bramnick said:

“I’ve been underestimated a lot.”